Terms of Reference - PDF document

1 Terms of Reference Local Co nsultant
Terms of Reference Local Co nsultant Nursing Education Partnership Initiative (NEPI) in South Africa August 2012 – February 201 3 Applications received after August 10 , 201 2 will be rejected. 1. Background The US Government’s Nursing Educatio n Partnership Initiative (NEPI) aims to address t he shortage of staff, and the need to strengthen the quality of health care provided , through actions within the nursing education systems in sub - Saharan African countries . Nurses are integral to the health system, providing care to underserved areas and filling in where and when doctors are in short supply. Yet it has been estimated that sub - Saharan Africa needs 600,000 additional nurses just to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Given the severity in s hortage of health workers, NEPI’s goal is to contribute to the US Government’s commitment to training 140,000 additional health workers by 2015. NEPI is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/ Health Resources and Services Admini stration (HRSA), u nder the leadership of the U.S. Department of State/Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC). NEPI is a component of HRSA’s Nursing Capacity Building Program (NCBP ) and its current awardee is Columbia University’s ICAP Nurse Capa city Initiative (INCI), which serves as the NEPI Coordinating Center for all the NEPI countries. The overarching goal of NEPI is to increase the production and quality and relevance of pre - service nursing education and graduates in selected African countri es with a number of partners contributing to this goal. The INCI - NEPI Coordinating Center within South Africa is responsible for leadership of NEPI. T he USAID - funded Capacity Plus project, a NEPI partner, is conduct ing a s eries of assessments, which can inc lude preservice education capacity assessment s and preservice education costing stud ies . The objective of the n ursing and m idwifery e ducation capacity a ssessment s is to assess the capacity of up to nine nursing and midwifery schools to produce a larger number of qualified nurses and midwives, who are capable of addressing the priority health needs of South Africa

2 , and work ing where needed in urban
, and work ing where needed in urban and rural settings, and at primary, secondary and tertiary care facilities. The capacity assessments address multiple dimensions of nursing and midwifery school capacity (faculty, curriculum, management, governance, pedagogy, infrastructure, clinical sites, etc). 2 The costing stud ies seek to: (1) estimate the current unit cost of producing a nurse or midwife g raduate; and (2) estimate the incremental additional costs of increasing the quantity and /or quality of the graduates. The cost estimates aim to support planning and management at education institutions and government agencies (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Higher Education, Finance, and Planning ) , advocacy for increased funding for preservice education , and evidence - based policy design to make the most cost - effective investments in preservice education . 2. Specific Activities and Expected Deliverables : T he consultant w ill be responsible for the following activities:  Representing Capacity Plus at NEPI events and coordinating meetings  Day to day coordination and regular contact with the NEPI coordinating center and with the Capacity Plus Team Lead for Healt h Workforce Development  Conducting a desk review of country - and school - level documents and studies relevant to the capacity and quality of nursing and midwifery education  Coordinating and overseeing the capacity assessments and costing studies, which coul d include training of data collectors; data collection, entry and analysis; and writing of reports.  Determin ing , in collaboration with the CapacityPlus Team Lead for Health Workforce Development, actions to be taken in the event that significant problems a re encountered  Other activities as requested The expected deliverables are:  P rogress and meeting reports  Desk Review report, based on the targeted review of documents and studies relevant to the capacity and quality of nursing and midwifery education in South Africa  Report and PowerPoint presentations for each school assessed  At least ten (10) high resolution digital photographs of each of the

3 institutions visited (infrastructure, s
institutions visited (infrastructure, staff, students, clinical practice sites, etc.) 3. Period and Level of Perfor mance The period of performance is for six months , part - time from signature of the contract, with the option of a 6 - day work week. 4. Qualifications and Experience The required qualifications for the consultancy assignment are as follows:  An advanced degr ee in public health, education, management or other related field , and a minimum of five years professional experience  At least five years of experience in health systems and human resources management  K nowledge of and/or practical experience in the delive ry or evaluation of health professional education an advantage 3  Proven experience in monitoring, evaluation and research  Familiarity with the South African context, and e xperience providing technical assistance in a low - resource setting  Experience with US G overnment Agencies and USAID - funded technical assistance projects a strong plus  Proactive, self - starter with the ability to work alone and in teams in a collegial and collaborative manner  Sense of urgency toward timely completion of scheduled deliverables  Excellent technical writing skills  Excellent oral and written communication skills in English  High level of computer literacy in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Internet  Ability to travel 30 - 35% of th e time 5. Consultant Approval, Supervision and Reporting A ll consultants must be approved by IntraHealth International and comply with IntraHealth and USAID rules and regulations. The consultant will submit monthly invoices including a brief activity report to CapacityPlus. 6. Submission of Application Please sub mit a resume / CV, and cover letter expressing how your knowledge, skills and abilities are a direct match for the scope of work , at procurement@intrahealth.org . Place the “ Nursing Education Partnership Initia tive (NEPI) ” title in the subject line. Resumes that do not match the Knowledge and Expertise will not be considered. No phone calls please. Applications received after August 10 , 201 2 will be rejecte